1993–94 West Sussex floods explained

1993–94 West Sussex floods
Duration:–
Affected:West Sussex, England

In December 1993 and January 1994, areas of West Sussex experienced flooding.[1] [2]

Background

From October 1993 to January 1994, there was a significant increase in rainfall in the River Lavant drainage basin, compared to the average. From 1961 to 1990, during the October to January period, rainfall in the basin averaged 379mm. In the same period from 1993 to 1994 the basin received 610mm of rainfall, an increase of 231mm or 61%.[3]

Floods

Areas of Bosham, Chichester, Fishbourne, Lavant, Singleton, and Wittering were affected.[4]

West Sussex County Council distributed 2000 sandbags and the British Army distributed a further 50,000.

Consequences

The flood damage cost West Sussex County Council £1.9 million.[5] The flood was estimated to have caused £6 million of damage overall.[6]

Reforms

A permanent system of flood reliefs were installed to prevent a repeat of the floods, at a cost of £4 million.[7] In 2001, the River Lavant was diverted by the Environment Agency, extending the river by 6miles, at a cost of £4.7 million. The agency estimated that without action flooding would occur once every 12 years, this was revised to every 75 years following the diversion.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Holmes. C.G.. January 1995. The West Sussex floods of December 1993 and January 1994. Weather. Royal Meteorological Society. 50. 1. 2–6. 10.1002/j.1477-8696.1995.tb06052.x. 1995Wthr...50....2H. subscription.
  2. Hoad. R. S.. Gilham. A. M.. Fawcett. D. S.. December 2003. Chichester emergency flood alleviation project. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water and Maritime Engineering. 156. 4. 297–304 . 10.1680/wame.2003.156.4.297. 1472-4561. 1753-7800. subscription. 2021-05-28. 2021-05-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210528182546/https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/wame.2003.156.4.297. live.
  3. The Chichester Flood, January 1994. Taylor. S. M.. National Rivers Authority. 28 May 2021. 28 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210528182536/http://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/The_Chichester_Flood_Jan_1994.pdf. live.
  4. News: 7 February 2019. Looking back 25 years to Sussex's flooding disaster. Chichester Observer. 28 May 2021. 9 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210209133521/https://www.chichester.co.uk/news/looking-back-25-years-sussexs-flooding-disaster-135483. live.
  5. Book: Mayes. Julian. Regional Climates of the British Isles. Wheeler. Dennis. Taylor & Francis. 9781134771448. 11 September 2002. 74–76. Chapter 3: South-East England. 11 September 2002.
  6. Robins. N. S.. Finch. J. W.. 22 July 2011. Groundwater flood or groundwater-induced flood?. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology. Geological Society of London. 45. 119–122. 10.1144/1470-9236/10-040. 10.1.1.874.1185. 131102476.
  7. News: 3 January 2003. Flood scheme hailed a success. The Argus. 28 May 2021. 28 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210528182529/https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/6745282.flood-scheme-hailed-a-success/. live.
  8. News: Brown. Paul. 7 September 2001. River diversion to save city from flooding. The Guardian. 28 May 2021. 9 May 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140509214857/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2001/sep/07/uknews.flooding. live.

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